MENTAL HEALTH Police department launches new team, trainings to tackle mental health crises
BY JOE EDWARDS
building relationships with the com- munity and introducing these mod- ern training techniques alongside mental health professionals, Moreno said. She said these implementations aim to create a safer environment for citizens and o cers while reducing unwanted large medical bills for those who attend hospitals due to mental health issues. “We don’t want people to be afraid to call the police department when their loved one has a mental health crisis. We want them to reach out to us,” Moreno said. “Our goal is to make sure that person is safe and gets help safely. We also don’t want them to go to the [emergency room] and walk out with a huge bill.” The new team and depart- mentwide training are being intro- duced at a crucial time in response to the growing number of mental health emergencies locally and nationwide.
The Sugar Land Police Department launched a new team and training initiative in early May focusing solely on responding to the rise in mental health emergency calls. The department’s new initiative will include a crisis intervention team with a focus on new curriculum to train o cers on responding to mental health calls, said Brittany Moreno, an SLPD o cer and the leader of the crisis intervention team. Moreno has more than 11 years of experience in the department with a specialization in mental health. The team will help train the depart- ment and implement safer tech- niques when responding to mental health crisis calls. The team will be comprised of seasoned o cers with at least two years of experience on the force. The department will also focus on
O cer Brittany Moreno gives a presentation introducing new mental health initiatives to other police o cers. (Courtesy Sugar Land Police Department)
QUICK FACTS Crisis intervention teams, or CIT, began in the 1980s in Memphis after a Black man with mental illness was shot by police. National data shows a need for programs like CIT. 5% 15% of 911 emergency calls are for behavioral health emergencies. 1 4 of police-involved shooting deaths are linked to mental illness. 2M+ people with serious mental illness are booked into jail each year.
From July 2022 through early May 2023, she counted more than 700 calls related to mental health issues. “I’ve been here a little over 11 years, and these calls are starting to increase more and more,” Moreno said. Additionally, the department will bring all the stakeholders together for mental health partnership meet- ings to maintain an approach toward training for mental health calls. “We bring together our challenges, the resources we have and ideas that we have to overcome these obstacles that make it hard for people to get help,” Moreno said.
SOURCES: PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES JOURNAL, AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • JUNE 2023
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